Dharmapuri case: AIIMS doctors to perform second autopsy on Ilavarasan`s body

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday ordered a second autopsy on the body of Dalit youth E Ilavarasan, by doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The autopsy will be done on Saturday.

A Division Bench comprising Justices V Dhanapalan and C T Selvam, who have been hearing the case, gave the direction based on reports submitted by two forensic experts who visited Dharmapuri yesterday. The bench had earlier directed them to examine the body of Ilavarasan, who was found dead along a railway track at Dharmapuri on July 4, and said it would be open for them to do further clinical or surgical examination as considered necessary and inform it through a report today. The experts were Dr Thangaraj, Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, SRM College and Research Centre, Potheri in Kancheepuram district and Dr P Sampathkumar, Professor of Forensic Medicine and Vice Principal, Sri Ramachandra Medical College, Porur in Chennai. A seven-member expert team had submitted individual reports on the autopsy and copies were handed over to counsels concerned. 23-year-old Ilavarasan, whose marriage to a upper caste girl triggered anti-Dalit violence in three villages of Dharmapuri district in November last, was found dead along the railway track on July 4, a day after his wife said she would never go back to him. While the post-mortem concluded he had died of serious head injuries, his family members and Dalit outfits have been maintaining that he had been done to death. PTI